head in sand
Refusing to see
Head in sand describes willful ignorance—refusing to acknowledge an obvious problem or unpleasant reality.
The image comes from the mistaken belief that ostriches bury their heads in sand when threatened, as if not seeing danger makes it disappear.
You can't keep your head in the sand about climate change forever.
Often appears as bury one's head in the sand.
- ostrichLargest living bird
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- ignoranceAbsence of knowledge
- willful ignorancePurposely remaining uninformed
blind · bury · hiding · look away · oblivious · ignore · pretend · la la la · elephant in room · willful · blissful ignorance · beach · dunes · evasion · cowardice · naïve · refuse · uncomfortable
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, willful blindness
- Willful Ignoranceturning a blind eye, looking away, blinders, selective attention
- foolishnessfoolishness, silliness, foolish, stupid, folly
- cognitive biasesconfirmation bias, anchoring bias, negativity bias, framing effect, optimism bias
- naivetenaivety, naive, innocence, gullible, gullibility
- ignoranceignorance, unawareness, nescience, in the dark, clueless
head in sandeyes wide open
State of full awareness
clear-eyed · wide awake · alert · wake up and smell the coffee · aware
head in sandfacing the music
Accepting responsibility for actions
grasping the nettle · taking the bull by the horns · stepping up · proactive · hands-on
head in sandfacing facts
Acknowledging uncomfortable truths
truth-seeking · clear-sighted · unflinching · realistic · pragmatic
head, sand, heads, sands, headed, heading, header, headless, sandy